BEGINNER'S PLATEAU

[skatin' mom]

Hi Everyone,
I have returned to skating after a loooooooooonnnnnnnnnng absence, and am basically starting over. I am at the beginning level, although I have been learning lots of elements from higher levels. My question is, how long does it take your basic klutzy adult to make progress in the basics like back crossovers, edges, waltz jump etc etc. I have been taking lessons now for almost 6 months and feel like I am stuck at a major plateau! :roll:

[Azlynn]

I know how you feel. Come September I'll be returning to regular classes and lessons... I think it's been over 10 years since I last took a lesson. My mind knows how to do things, but my body doesn't cooperate.

In the few times I've gotten to skate this year, I've also felt like I've been stuck... most of my wussy single jumps, and can NOT spin to save my life. I'm hoping that with regular work things start to improve.

Just to say... after 6 months, it sounds like you're doing really well if you're doing back crossovers, waltz jumps, etc. 6 months isn't that long to make significant progress. Try and remember how you felt when you first stepped onto the ice all those months ago.

[JDC1]

I think it depends entirely on the person, how much ice time you get etc. I think a year wouldn't be an unrealistic time frame. I've been skating since Sept, I could skate around in a circle and attempt crossovers. It's now been 10 months and I am working on 1 foot spins, waltz jump, Loops, toe loops, and lutzs (entrance and the pick in) and alternating 3 turns and brackets and spirals. I've progressed a little more quickly than most adults at my rink but I have always been fit and reasonably athletic, if you have had a more sedentary life style it might be harder to get your body into it. Really there's no set time period and you should just work on your edges and control and have fun and patience!! I have been working on trying to get into a 1 ft spin for about 3 months now and I am JUST NOW beginning to get somewhere. :-)

[Yazmeen]

Age is also a factor. I've been skating for 3 and 1/4 years and only now am progressing to toeloop, one foot spin and salchow. And I practice quite a bit; however, I'm 44 and it is not only simply not as easy for my body to do this, there is more "fear factor" at this age than if I were 20. I also didn't skate as a kid and was maybe on the ice a grand total of 6 times prior to starting lessons in April of 1999.

You have to progress at your own pace. I used to think I was the slowest learner on the planet; however, I've come much further than I EVER thought I would (original goal was to go forwards and backwards!!!). Give it time and enjoy your progress, however fast or slow it is. I became a much better and much happier skater when I stopped comparing myself to other skaters all the time and just worked on learning as much as I could and having fun. As I've often said, progress is often millimeter by millimeter by millimeter, but I've enjoyed every increment, even when I get frustrated!!!

Good luck,

Beth

[JDC1]

I have to second what Yazmeen wrote about not comparing yourself to others!! I am in a group class and most people are WAY ahead of me and at first it was so frustrating to be so "behind" but then I reminded myself I was going at my own pace and my body's own pace. I am 37 and started when I was 36 and fear is a factor but not of the pain but of the consequences, breaking a wrist or ankle would really mess things up for me so I take things slowly, it took me almost 3 months to really get my waltz jump OFF the ice, it was a waltz skip!! :-)
If you feel a little "bored" ask your coach to do some sequences or something where you tie together what you know rather than just doing skill after skill. I don't know how your coach teaches but I've found that when I am told to do - spiral, shoot the duck , spiral it's more fun and challenging then doing a shoot the duck over and over and over.
If you are only taking group lessons I suggest taking the occasional private lesson and either work on things you are "stuck" on or ask your coach to teach you a new element that you can work on on your own rather than just the stuff in your group lesson.

[garyc254]

[quote:621cb9c01c="Yazmeen"]Age is also a factor.

You have to progress at your own pace.

Give it time and enjoy your progress, however fast or slow it is. I became a much better and much happier skater when I stopped comparing myself to other skaters all the time and just worked on learning as much as I could and having fun. Beth[/quote:621cb9c01c]

Beth is exactly right. I'm 48, not particularly athletic, and started skating last September never having skated before. The "fear factor" and lack of well stretched/strengthened muscles has slowed my progress, but I am making progress.

Just kick back, enjoy your personal pace, and let it happen with fun.

I'm too old to compete against Todd Eldridge :lol: , so there's no reason to push myself for something that is unrealistic. I figure that I've come a long way in a year and enjoy the progress I've made.

[jenlyon60]

I started as an adult many years ago, progressed (in dance) through 2 of my 3 Pre-Silvers (although I did test EW once in 1988). Took the better part of the next 12 years off courtesy my job (no ice rinks nearby) and later my knee problems.

Started skating again in summer 2000. My biggest problem was mental.

1. I remembered being able to skate much better than my much older body could do (partially mental, although my left knee was still quite achy for the first year after I started again). So I would get very frustrated at myself (and still do) because I remembered skating high level dances at speed years ago.

2. For me, re-learning how to do things (even basics like well-checked 3-turns for EW, and neat feet, and one-foot stops) is MUCH more challenging than learning from scratch.

3. Time constraints due to my current job vs. ice time available. Although I am very lucky that my agency lets employees have 3 hours a week for physical activity/training, and my boss lets me use that time to train my skating (I got to leave early 3 days a week during fall/winter/spring to get to the rink in time for the last FS session(s) of the day. Now I'm mostly skating early morning (6:15am ice time) then fighting traffic from the rink to work.

[flying~camel]

[quote:3acfcde702="Azlynn"] can NOT spin to save my life. I'm hoping that with regular work things start to improve.[/quote:3acfcde702]

I'm experiencing the same spin troubles! I started skating again in February after 5 years off (I'm 23 now), and I JUST started getting my camel and sit spins back - and they are S-L-O-W! I didn't have any problems with most of my jumps, except for the lutz and axel, which I only can't do because I freak out right before take off.

I'm hoping to get my spins back soon, so I can possibly start competing again this season. :)

[Mrs Redboots]

I shouldn't fuss; we've been skating nearly 8 years now and [i:3da840aa72]still[/i:3da840aa72] can only just barely skate backwards. :oops: The trouble is, it's both of us, which does make for difficulties when it's dances like the Fiesta Tango!

But seriously, sometimes progress does seem infinitesimal, and then you suddenly look back and see how far you have actually come! And then, quite suddenly, you suddenly either master, or totally improve, all the skills you've been working on. Then there's another long, long plateau, often at a slightly lower level, while the new skills are consolidated, and that's just hard, dreary grind. Then suddenly, there is another Great Leap Forward. And so it goes.

All I can say is "Stick at it!" Practice the exercises you are given, no matter how dull and repetitive. Try to practice for [i:3da840aa72]at least[/i:3da840aa72] the same length of time as your lessons each week, and ideally longer. I was told the ideal was two hours of practice for each 15 minutes' worth of lesson, which isn't actually practicable for those of us who have an hour or more of lessons per week, but as much as you can manage, anyway.

And if you, like me, turn out to be the type of skater who takes forever to learn anything at all, so what? It's still the most enormous fun you can have with your clothes on! [b:3da840aa72]And[/b:3da840aa72] you get to make friends from around the world. [b:3da840aa72]And[/b:3da840aa72] an enormous collection of soft toys.....

[Schmeck]

I've been skating on and off, mostly group lessons, a few private ones tossed in here and there, barely any time to practice, for 4 years. I started when I was 34 - never took lessons as a kid, just pond and crowded public sessions. (Picture dozens of people skating around and around... :lol: )

I'm finally on USFSA Freeskate 2, but I couldn't do my beginner scratch spin today :(

It took me two years to get past forward and back crossovers, although I'm always trying to improve them. I think you're doing great!

Schmeck

[Jeanette]

Plateaus are part of skating. This is the first of many that you will experience! You will break through again, and again, and after awhile, you will recognize that learning to skate at any age is a series of progressions and plateaus! You learn to live with them, hate the plateaus when you are on one, but, fly high again when you progress. I so agree with the others that the only progress you can compare to is your own. Absolutely. Most importantly, have fun with it. Jeanette

[KatieC]

I was just thinking today that I haven't accomplished very much lately - and then I did the most marvelous spin :)

Seriously, a very nice lady that I skate with has told me she gets very depressed every time a really good skater comes out to skate with us. When I asked her why, she said because she knows she'll never be that good. (I'm talking about young people that usually skate for Disney on Ice or something, and are home for a week or two and just want to practise a bit). It's funny, but I never compare myself to these young people. I just admire the way they skate, and sometimes try to copy a few of their easier moves. Sometimes I tell them how much I like their skating and they give me a few tips. I figure they've been skating probably all their lives, and I just started four years ago. How could I possibly compare myself to them? I still think it's amazing I can do one foot and two foot spins in both directions. And I have the beginnings of a wonderful one foot stop that will be gorgeous in about a year. Guess I'm still not grown up, because things like this still get me excited.

Isn't each plateau actually one step higher than the last?

[jazzpants]

[quote:b89d0e9e70="skatin' mom"]Hi Everyone,
I have returned to skating after a loooooooooonnnnnnnnnng absence, and am basically starting over. I am at the beginning level, although I have been learning lots of elements from higher levels. My question is, how long does it take your basic klutzy adult to make progress in the basics like back crossovers, edges, waltz jump etc etc. I have been taking lessons now for almost 6 months and feel like I am stuck at a major plateau! :roll:[/quote:b89d0e9e70]

It's hard to say how long it would be before you progress. It depends on how much time you spend on the ice, whether you are just taking group lessons or whether you will take private lessons, whether you are athletic or not, whether you have existing injuries that limits you on what you can do on the ice, what you had learn back when you first started skating before... all sorts of factors!!!

I came back from a 17 year absence...and I'm still working on my crossovers to make myself look less like a klutzy adult!!! :P But on the bright side, it's looking less and less klutzy. Eventually, those crossovers won't look wimpy anymore! So keep working on them! :) (I sure do!)

Cheers,
jazzpants, who was lucky to get her waltz jump back after 4 months from the first day back and 4-5 months to get back her one foot spins back.

[wannask8]

My favorite quotation from this board (Nicki Lee, perhaps?) is that “learning to skate feels like building a beach one grain of sand at a time.” But -- whether you realize it or not, you do have an advantage having skated earlier in life. As a recent late starter myself (pushing 40) who was never athletic as a kid, I can already recognize which adults had prior experience, even if they’ve had a long hiatus. Those of us that didn’t start earlier are building the muscle memory from scratch, often with body parts that are already less cooperative than their younger counterparts. Definitely stick with it!

-- wannask8

[jasmine]

If you are much over thirty, you need to skate twice a week or more to make significant forward progress. Once a week will just about keep your skating topped up! It's a lot to do with building up body and leg strength.

[Anita18]

Just keep practicing and make up little goals as you go! Well, big goals are good too, but usually they have to be built up. :wink: Don't concentrate on what other people do, but focus on yourself. Unless, of course, a skater is amazing proficient in an area you want to improve on - if so, [i:d578059925]watch them!!! [/i:d578059925]I cannot tell you how many things I've learned by watching other people skate. It must seem like I'm staring them down sometimes... :lol: Oops...

LOL six months after I started, I was lucky to do a lunge without falling over! :P Jumps and spins were a blot on the map for me! But if you practice, eventually you'll get there! (And don't forget to work on your edges!! :D :D ) I started out 2.5 years ago hanging on to the wall for dear life, so if you start out past that, kudos from me, LOL!

And plateaus are a sad but very real side of skating. Example: my backspin. My best backspin day was probably two months ago - I had a faaabulous day with them, and could do no wrong! But then, [i:d578059925]poof![/i:d578059925] they were gone and now they're coming finally coming back, albeit very slowly....it always seems like it's one step forward, two steps back! Though my rinkmates say that even my lousy backspins are improving in comparison to my lousy backspins from before, so I guess that's a step in the right direction.... :lol:

[skatin' mom]

Thanks everyone for all of your helpful and reassuring advice! It gets frustrating sometimes being the worst one on the ice, but your replies have helped to remind me that everyone has to start somewhere.

I have been practicing for about 3 to 4 hours a week, spread over 4 days, but the one thing I haven't been doing very well is being methodical about what I practice, instead focussing mostly on forward stroking and crossovers and hoping the rest of it will just fall into place during my lessons! :roll: I guess I really do need to make a list and just stick to it to maximize my practice time. All I know is that I will be glad when summer is over and the rink won't be so darned crowded during the weekday sessions. Sometimes there are over 150 kids there, going every which way, which makes practicing anything a little (!) difficult. :(

[singerskates]

[size=15:00541ef2b0]I started sakting when I was 37 just doing beginning ice dance ( skating forwards only) for the first year. It wasn't until I was 38 that I began with skating backwards, learning three turns, mohawks and stuff. It was also the year that I began to learn to freeskate. 8 months later, I entered my first adult freeskate competition coming in 3rd which was last. I was slow, I could barely do a messy waltz jump and toe loop jump. This past year (2001-2002 season), I still didn't have all the jumps and spins to be able to pass my prelim freeskate. This year, I'm planning on passing my prelim freeskate so that I can compete in adult prelim/adult bronze. Let's say I have a lot of work ahead of me. My coach is also having me skate up on sessions this coming year to Intermediate which at my new club requires you to have your junior bronze FS or 2 of the following; be 13 or older, passed prelim FS or junior bronze ice dances. She notices that I do better when I'm pushed with higher level skaters. She also notices that I freeze up with the Junior skaters because those 5 to 9 year olds are very unpredictable fooling around unlike the Intermediate skaters who actually work and have set patterns that you can count on.[/size:00541ef2b0]

[wannask8]

Skatin’ Mom, there’s a short “Practice Techniques” thread here (last post 6/19/02) with some additional helpful tips on getting the most out of your sessions.

-- wannask8

[garyc254]

And remember:

Your feet can learn the steps
But only your heart can skate